> I can only see a psychiatrist once every six months.
Most British patients with depression or anxiety have never seen a psychiatrist. The default is to treat in primary care, with only the most severely ill patients being referred to a psychiatrist. Patients often have to wait many months for specialist treatment, even if they have a severe and enduring condition like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Access to treatment for eating disorders is frequently rationed on the basis of Body Mass Index - if you're not literally on the brink of death, you're on your own. There are frequently zero beds available in mental health inpatient units in the entire country. Many patients experiencing acute mental health crises have been sent hundreds of miles for treatment, because there are no beds available anywhere near them.
Mental healthcare in the UK is a slow-burning crisis due to a lack of funding, increasing demand on services and a shortage of trained staff. Psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health nurses are leaving the NHS in their thousands. Suicide and homelessness amongst patients with mental health problems have risen sharply, with the police playing an increasing role in managing patients in acute need. All too often, there's simply no help available.
Against this background, I'm extremely sceptical about social prescribing. If it's anything like the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme that was supposed to revolutionise mental health care in Britain, it'll be the cheapest possible band-aid rather than a serious effort to provide better care.
Most British patients with depression or anxiety have never seen a psychiatrist. The default is to treat in primary care, with only the most severely ill patients being referred to a psychiatrist. Patients often have to wait many months for specialist treatment, even if they have a severe and enduring condition like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Access to treatment for eating disorders is frequently rationed on the basis of Body Mass Index - if you're not literally on the brink of death, you're on your own. There are frequently zero beds available in mental health inpatient units in the entire country. Many patients experiencing acute mental health crises have been sent hundreds of miles for treatment, because there are no beds available anywhere near them.
Mental healthcare in the UK is a slow-burning crisis due to a lack of funding, increasing demand on services and a shortage of trained staff. Psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health nurses are leaving the NHS in their thousands. Suicide and homelessness amongst patients with mental health problems have risen sharply, with the police playing an increasing role in managing patients in acute need. All too often, there's simply no help available.
Against this background, I'm extremely sceptical about social prescribing. If it's anything like the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme that was supposed to revolutionise mental health care in Britain, it'll be the cheapest possible band-aid rather than a serious effort to provide better care.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/07/nhs-bosses-w...
https://www.nhsconfed.org/news/2016/10/is-mental-health-cris...
https://www.mind.org.uk/media/494424/we-still-need-to-talk_r...